Abstract #0954

Bifunctional Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for MR Imaging & Hyperthermia Therapy in Cancer

Katherine Louise Parcell^1,2, Tammy Louise Kalber^1,2, Paul Southern³, Quentin a Pankhurst³, Sam M Janes², Mark F. Lythgoe¹

¹UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, Division of Medicine & Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom; ²Centre for Respiratory Research, University College London, London, United Kingdom; ³Davy-Faraday Research Laboratories, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London, United Kingdom

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIO) have diverse applications in biomedicine, and have been used for cell tracking of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) within the body using MRI. SPIO labelled MSCs will home to and incorporate themselves within lung metastases in vivo, carrying SPIO particles into tumours. The application of an alternating magnetic field causes rapid heating of the SPIO, damaging the surrounding cancer cells. In this study we investigate the potential of SPIO as bifunctional nanoparticles for hyperthermia treatment in a subcutaneous murine tumour model and the possibility of MR monitoring of SPIO labelled MSCs within the tumour.